One Last Chance At Dating Paid Off

“My name is Amy and I LOVE cooking!.” Those were the enthusiastic words that 34-year-old Amy used to open her profile, and went on to tell her preference for sticking to the perimeter of the grocery store to avoid the processed foods.

“Her introduction made me laugh,” recalled 34-year-old Mark. And he liked what he saw in the rest of her profile too since they had similar convictions on faith, values and politics.

Before joining CatholicMatch Mark was frustrated with the dating scene, but it was a conversation over coffee with his grandmother that turned the tide for Mark. In late 2012, his grandmother, knowing he was looking for a good Catholic woman, got out the church bulletin. “She pointed to the CatholicMatch ad and said ‘Every time I see this ad, I think of you. I think you should join.’” Mark decided to give grandma’s advice a chance, and saw it as the last chance he was giving to dating.

Mark’s first contact to Amy started a month-long run of emails, texts and phone calls before they got together in person.

Mark and Amy’s first get-together was easy because they live about a half-hour drive apart. She lives in St. Paul, while he’s on the northern Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River.

Mark and Amy met in person on a Tuesday and their date went so well that they were getting together again by the weekend. They are, what Mark terms “a carbon copy” of each other on the big-picture issues, but they also bring personal chemistry with some notable differences.

“Amy is more by-the-book and a rule-follower,” Mark said. “I tend to be more adventurous and driven by curiosity. I think this difference is certainly complementary by giving each of us different perspectives when we are around each other, and it allows us to enjoy different things in different ways.”

Mark enjoys an active lifestyle and loves being outdoors—anything from walking to biking to taking pictures of nature’s beauty. When he’s indoors, a Stephen King novel is a preferred form of reading. Amy loves—you guessed it, cooking. Her own passion for healthy cooking dovetails perfectly with Mark’s active lifestyle that is focused on personal health. Amy also enjoys listening to Relevant Radio each day to continue growing in her faith.

What Mark and Amy are doing right now is growing together. “We love sharing our faith together, going to church and praying together,” he said.

Mark and Amy are still discerning God’s ultimate call for themselves, though Mark adds clearly that “we are working towards the sacrament of marriage. It is such a blessing to have finally found someone to completely share all my faith, beliefs and myself with,” Mark said.

The story of he and Amy demonstrates that even in this age of technological advancement, things like grandma’s good advice are still the way to go.